


It Takes a Village

by IceDragon19



Category: Undertale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baby Blasters, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-17 19:37:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5882938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceDragon19/pseuds/IceDragon19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In small towns, news usually travels fast. Especially when something completely unexpected happens. Especially when everyone gets involved.<br/>--------<br/>My own take on the baby blasters AU! This was mostly inspired by KeetahSpacecat's Trust. Hope you enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Trust](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5378657) by [KeetahSpacecat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeetahSpacecat/pseuds/KeetahSpacecat). 



Prologue

Snowdin may not have been the smallest section of the underground, coming in second to The Ruins, but it was undeniably small. And of course it would be! The underground may not have been the most hospitable place, but the humid dampness of Waterfall and the arid dryness of Hotland were preferable to most when compared to the frigid cold and regular snowfall of Snowdin. The "town" of Snowdin, despite the growing population of the underground and the lack of space for expansion, would never become heavily populated. Some places were destined to remain small, and thus, a network was created that belonged to only the townspeople. Travelers would never breach this inner circle, and newcomers would have to prove themselves to gain entrance into their world.

In short, in a place as small as Snowdin, news travelled fast, and only between the residents. Especially when that news concerned something no one had ever seen before.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so the tale begins!

Chapter 1

One day, it just started happening. Dogaressa came to the bar, Dogamy in tow, screaming about how her trash can had been looted and the door to her house rammed into. She was lucky, she boasted, the lock held true and didn't let the thief into her house. She emphasized that it could have been so much worse.

Then, two days later, Doggo burst in, yelling about his trash having been tipped open and dug through, his back door having been picked open. When asked what had been taken, if the thief had trashed his house, he'd looked confused. "Nothing much was missing... In fact, my house was as meticulously clean as I had left it this morning. I was missing some food though."

As time passed, the patrons of his bar were all hit by the mystery thief at some point or another. Grillby's bar, however, had yet to be touched. His trash can was left alone, his bar was unbroken into. The stories he heard left him reeling, however. The thief didn't seem to wish harm. It sounded as if they were attempting to keep from starving. One day, after another one of his many patrons complained about the looting, Grillby finally commented, "It sounds as if the thief is simply looking for food. And perhaps somewhere warm to stay."

Everyone froze. It seemed logical, and they knew it. The thief never took a ridiculous amount of food; only enough for perhaps a tiny meal or two. The houses were obviously broken into but not trashed, and they seemed to be treating the homes with a respect that seemed almost grateful. Something was wrong if there was a homeless monster living around these parts, especially in a place like Snowdin. If they had one night that was too cold...

"Should we... Should we try to lure them out then?" asked Dogamy. "At first it seemed like their intentions might be malevolent, but what if there's a monster trying to keep from freezing to death every night? We can't let that continue. We can help until they get back on their feet."

Grillby adjusted his glasses. "The thief seems unwilling to steal from the same house twice." He looked around the room. "It seems as if I'm one of the few remaining establishments in town that hasn't been hit yet."

Everyone's eyes widened. "You haven't been hit yet? That's insane!" came Lesser Dog.

"You'd think you'd have been hit earlier, Grillby. If the thief wants food, this would be the place to hit," commented Snowdrake Sr.

"True," Grillby replied softly, "but it seems as if our thief wants to avoid being seen. This isn't the most inconspicuous place, especially since I have a few regulars who stay quite late, and I tend to open up early to prepare for the day. They've probably considered it to be too risky."

"We need to set a trap then," said Dogaressa. "We'll stage a party. Make it obvious that we're throwing a lot of food away."

Doggo nodded. "If we do it on a cold night, the thief will probably break into the restaurant for warmth. We can block off the exits and trap them."

Grillby tapped his fingers nervously. "We'll have to be careful and gentle. If this monster is going out of their way to avoid us, they probably think they have good reason. We can't threaten or scare them, and we have no idea how powerful they are. None of us should join the ranks of the fallen over a few scrappy meals."

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested that thought. Then, Dogaressa plowed ahead. "It's our 3rd anniversary next week. We could always celebrate a little early. It's supposed to be cold in three days, right? At least that's what one of those fancy scientists in Hotland said."

People were already nodding in agreement. Grillby tipped his head. "This is going to have to be convincing."

Dogaressa smiled. "It will be."

* * *

 

Over the next three days, the temperature dropped. The snow hardened, the top layer turning to ice. The last theft had been just a few hours following their initial plan to set the trap; it had been nearly three days and, so far, it'd been the longest the thief had gone without making an appearance. Most concerning, however, was what they'd taken. Along with the food, a half empty bottle of cold medicine and a tattered blanket that had been about to be thrown in the garbage had gone missing. Something was wrong, and hopefully, they wouldn't be too late.

The party went well. Grillby made sure to cook extra food, the kind that stayed warm longer and with some extra spices so that it would radiate a tantalizing smell. They wanted to make sure this was an opportunity that the thief couldn't pass up. Everyone had a great time, but there was an air of stillness throughout the patrons. They knew what was to come when the party was over. As it was Grillby's bar, it was decided he would lock up last, walk halfway home, and then sneak through the woods bordering the bar until he could watch the back door. When he saw the thief, he was to contact some of the partygoers, and together they would corner them. Grillby just hoped nothing would go wrong.

That was how Grillby found himself sitting in the snow at 1 AM, feeling cold and small as he kept his flames low, his crackling quiet. The cold was permeating his heat, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could sit and wait. It had already been two hours since they had set the trap.

At 1:36 there was a small noise, one Grillby would never have been able to hear if he hadn't been so used to the eerie quiet of early morning. He snapped to rapt attention as he watched a small, round form slide out from the woods about 20 feet away. The monster appeared small and light enough to keep on top of the layer of ice on top of the snow, and they used it to their advantage. They slid across the surface towards Grillby's trash, not leaving a trace or a footprint to mark their presence. When they came close enough to the bar to be captured in the glow of the back light, Grillby had been surprised to make out the shape of a skeleton monster in a blue hoodie that was almost comically oversized. But weren't skeleton monsters usually much larger?

The monster gently upturned the trash can. Grillby had left the trash bags loosely tied, and despite this, he watched the skeletal hands of the monster fumble with the knot. From where Grillby sat watching, he could see their hands trembling in the cold. The thief stopped in surprise when they finally got the bag open and Grillby smiled to himself. He'd left three full cheeseburgers on top of the trash. If it hadn't been so intensely cold, they'd probably have still retained a bit of heat.

The thief snatched one of the cheeseburgers and sniffed before digging in. As they ate, they looked around suspiciously, as if expecting someone to emerge from the woods. At some point, they looked in Grillby's direction, and Grillby had to keep himself from drawing in a surprised gasp. The monster was a child. Their eyes were much too big for their face, and they were missing a baby tooth, one of their canines. How had a child found themself homeless, and why were they digging through trash cans?

One thing still didn't add up though. The child looked tired, but not exhausted. They'd sneezed once, but didn't seem congested. Why did they take the cold medicine and the blanket?

The monster picked up the remaining cheeseburgers, stuffing them in the large pockets of the hoodie. Then, they pulled out a thin, slender pick and stepped toward the door. Grillby instantly pulled out his phone, sending everyone the text he'd prepared in advance: "The thief is in position." Then, he followed up with, "Please, everyone, be careful. I think our thief is a child."

He activated the ringer on his phone and waited. After much fumbling and concentration, the child eased the tumbler over with a click. The door swung open, and they stepped inside. When Grillby saw the slim shapes of Dogaressa and Dogamy enter through the unlocked front door, he made his way over himself, trying his best not to sizzle as he stepped through the snow. Unfortunately, due to his heat and weight, he hadn't been able to remain on the top of the snow as the thief had. The trudge to his own back door was a bit more miserable than he'd thought it would be.

He turned his flames down lower and stepped inside, careful not to make the door squeak to alert the thief to his presence. He shut it behind him and sent another text. "Ready."

His ringtone went off as he received a text. Without looking at the message, he flipped on the lights.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grillby's text had warned them that their thief was a child, but it was obvious that they'd expected a mischievous teenager. Instead, they'd found a ragged, barefoot, starving ten year old skeleton boy in a ridiculously oversized blue hoodie that none of them had ever seen before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I've gotten such a great response to this story! Thank you to everyone that's read, commented, bookmarked and given kudos so far! It's very much appreciated!

Chapter 2

Every light in the bar lit up. Standing at every entrance into the back room were every one of Grillby's patrons that had been available to help: Dogamy, Dogaressa, Doggo, Greater Dog, Lesser Dog, and Snowdrake Sr. The first three stood in front of one of the entrances into the room, and Grillby stood at the back. Everyone else was there for backup.

Most notably, however, was the thief in the center of the room. Without a doubt, he'd been caught red-handed, and had nowhere else to go. The boy's eyes were impossibly wide as his head whipped around to look at every exit and every face, no doubt having seen before from a distance. His white pupils flickered in their sockets, his mind struggling to find a way out despite there being none.

He came to a conclusion within a few seconds. He was completely and utterly trapped, and he'd no doubt stolen and broken into the houses of everyone present. He had every right to be scared out of his wits. This was exactly what Grillby had been hoping to avoid.

The boy backed up until he was in the center of the room, equidistant from all present. He held his hands up in surrender, but he was shaking uncontrollably. His eyes were opened wide, as if someone had stretched them out. His breathing was beginning to come in ragged gasps. Everyone in the bar was attempting to hide their shock. Grillby's text had warned them that their thief was a child, but it was obvious that they'd expected a mischievous teenager. Instead, they'd found a ragged, barefoot, starving ten year old skeleton boy in a ridiculously oversized blue hoodie that none of them had ever seen before.

The moment of silence stretched. The boy was shaking so badly that Grillby was afraid his bones would rattle themselves apart. As he was about to step forward and try to placate the child, to tell him that they wanted to help, Snowdrake Sr. fluttered forward a step, opening up his beak and taking a deep breath, most likely to scream at the child, berate him for his thievery.

The boy's head snapped around to see the action before stumbling backwards and crying out in fear. Snowdrake Sr.'s scorn died in his throat, his eyes widening. Now, the boy's back was to Dogaressa, and he was much closer to her than everyone else in the room. Seeing the opportunity, she reached out. Gently, her paw came to rest on the boy's shoulder. For a fraction of a second, the boy stiffened, his mind reeling to try to realize what had happened. His eyes came to focus on the paw on his shoulder, and his mouth snapped open as he let out a terrified _shriek_. Dogaressa withdrew her paw as quickly as if she'd been burned, and the boy stumbled back to the center of the room where he collapsed onto his knees, breathing like he'd just run a marathon.

Lesser Dog couldn't take seeing the boy in such distress. With a whine, he pitched forward, the boy's head swiveled around to see, he opened his mouth–

"STOP!" Grillby roared, his flames shooting high. All eyes landed on his as everyone in the room froze. He held up a hand as he locked eyes with the boy. "Stop this, everyone, please. He's terrified." With the boy tracking his every move, Grillby sat down, gesturing for everyone else to do the same. It took a few seconds, but suddenly everyone was on the floor with the boy at the center, still on his hands and knees. His eyes were glazed over, most likely in shock or fear.

Grillby tried for a warm smile. "I think an introduction is in order. Hello. I'm Grillby. I own this bar."

The boy blinked at him.

He gestured at everyone else about the room.

Snowdrake Sr. extended a wing above his head. "I'm Snowdrake Senior."

Dogaressa held up her paw. "I'm Dogaressa, and this is my husband–"

"I'm Dogamy," came Dogamy, holding up his paw.

"I'm Doggo," came Doggo, nodding his head towards the boy.

Lesser and Greater Dog barked a greeting.

As each one of them had spoken, the boy had swiveled to look each of them in the eye. Once finished, Grillby took control once again. "And who are you?" he asked. The boy turned to face him and did nothing but stare. Realizing he wasn't going to receive an answer, Grillby gestured towards the boy. "We're all sitting. Why don't you take a seat too?"

The boy sat, facing Grillby with a dumbstruck expression. He tried to swivel his head so that everyone would be in his line of sight, but it soon became obvious that someone would always evade his line of vision. The boy turned back to Grillby and gave him a meaningful stare before turning to sit with his back facing Grillby.

At first, Grillby was annoyed. He'd been the one to stop the chaos and to bring the kid back from what might have been a panic attack, why would he turn his back to–

Oh.

Grillby's mouth opened. "You're trusting _me_ to watch your back?"

The boy nodded, and judging by the sniffle that followed, he was trying to keep from crying.

Okay. He could do this.

"I'm sorry we scared you. We didn't mean to. We just wanted to find out who'd been digging through our trash and breaking into our houses. We thought it was someone much older, perhaps trying to be mean. Then, we realized that all that was being stolen was food. And that someone might be starving. We were hoping to catch the monster so that we could try to help them."

The boy's shoulders hunched, his head tucking into his chest. Grillby wished he could read his expression. Was he helping or making things worse? Either way, he'd started this, now he had to finish it. "We were afraid, since it was going to get cold, that a monster could die on a night like this. So we set a trap, hoping you'd be able to eat something and come inside and be warm. We mean you no harm. Please let us help."

The boy shuffled, as if he was preparing himself to speak.

But instead, a high pitched, muffled voice came through. "Sans...? Wha's goin' on?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update again either tomorrow or Thursday! Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well. That would explain the stolen medicine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've been much busier than I thought I would be and now I'm sick :P hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

The boy stiffened, hunching further. Grillby looked up at Dogamy in confusion, but Dogamy was staring at the boy in shock.

A small, wet cough filled the air, followed by a moan. The boy's shoulders hadn't heaved at the sound, and it was much too high pitched to have belonged to a ten year old. In fact, the noise had seemed to come from a five or six year old...

Dogaressa's paws went over her mouth, her eyes wide. In the silence of the room, she whispered, " _You have a puppy._ "

Grillby started. No, there was no way. There was no way this little boy had been carrying a five or six year old with him. His hoodie wasn't...

His hoodie...

The boy began to shake again, turning to face Grillby. Another cough came from the inside of his hoodie.

Well. That _would_ explain the stolen medicine.

"Who's with you?" Grillby asked gently, seeing the panic in the boy's eyes.

He opened his mouth, as if to answer, but no words came. He touched the top of the lump over his chest protectively, as if daring Grillby to challenge him. Grillby just smiled again.

"Well?" Grillby asked softly. "Are you going to introduce us?"

The boy blinked. A rustle came from his hoodie and he zipped it down. A smaller skeletal head peered out, and Grillby almost stood and went over to the two children then and there.

That cold medicine had been stolen for a reason. The younger skeleton peering out of the boy's hoodie looked downright awful. There was gunk in his eye sockets, snot pouring down his nose. He took irregular, shuddering gasps through his mouth. Even though he was turned in Grillby's direction, his eyes were so glazed over that he couldn't have been seeing anything, much less Grillby.

"Sans?" the younger skeleton croaked. Wha's hapning?"

The boy's full attention focused on the little one. Carefully, he zipped down the rest of his hoodie. He'd bundled up and tied the younger one to himself using the stolen blanket. In an inside pocket was the stolen medicine.

For the first time, the boy gathered up the courage to speak. "Shhh. Everything's fine, Papyrus."

Grillby glanced up. Everyone in the bar was staring at him.

"Are you Sans?" Grillby ventured, turning his voice even lighter and softer.

The boy nodded, his eyes never leaving the blank ones of the younger skeleton.

"So this is Papyrus?" Grillby continued in the same tone of voice.

Sans nodded again and closed his eyes, tears gathering at his eyesockets. He hugged Papyrus close, nearly obscuring him completely with his body.

"He looks pretty sick."

Sans let out a sob.

Taking his chance, Grillby scooted forward a little. "Taking care of other people is really hard."

Sans tucked himself into a ball with little Papyrus at the center. His shoulders heaved.

Grillby scooted a little further. "Especially someone so young."

No reaction. He moved closer. "But the hardest of all is when a little monster gets sick. You have to be so careful taking care of them. They become so fragile..."

Sans was sobbing so hard now that Grillby thought he'd break himself apart.

He moved so close that he could reach out and touch the boy if he wanted. He spoke low and steady and soft. "You've already done so much. You've been finding food. And shelter. And taking care of Papyrus. Even when he was loud. And silly. And you were afraid someone would see you two because of him."

Sans looked up at Grillby, tears pouring out of his eye sockets. "You even took care of him now that he's sick, and I'm sure you have to get him to sleep before rummaging around through people's stuff right? You had to make sure you could still take him with you, even though he might cough or sneeze or cry, right?"

Sans nodded. "It's hard to take care of any monster as young as Papyrus, no matter how old you are. And helping when they're sick? Sometimes it feels impossible." Sans was nodding furiously now.

"Some of us have some experience with this, you know. I bet we could help."

Sans looked down at the little skeleton. He squirmed in the older skeleton's arms.

"He looks pretty sick," Grillby repeated.

Sans erupted.

"He's dying!" he wailed. "I don't know what to do! I keep giving him food but he keeps throwing it back up! I tried keeping him warm, but he kept getting hotter! His fever won't break! And his eyes are so full of goop he can't see! He can't breathe through his nose anymore! And his breath keeps catching. Every time he coughs I'm so afraid he won't take another breath and... and..." He suppressed another sob as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm his big brother, I have to protect him. I've tried everything, what am I supposed to _do_?!"

Grillby felt his heart shatter. This ten year old had been through so much, tried so hard. It was obvious that he'd been responsible, that he'd done all that he'd been capable of. He cared so deeply about his brother that he'd been willing to try anything, even if it meant breaking into houses and stealing.

This was why it pained him to make his request.

"Sans," he said gently, "you need to hand Papyrus over so we can help him get better."

Sans stared at Grillby as if he'd suggested he throw Papyrus off a roof. " _What_?!"

"You've done enough already. Let us help. We can help him get better."

Sans's grip on his brother tightened. "No! I don't trust you! What if you hurt him?" Sans leveled Grillby with such a venomous stare that the fire monster almost backed away before returning to his senses. He was dealing with a child who was trying to save his sick brother's life, and no one in this bar had given him much reason to trust any of them with something so precious. In fact, Sans had every right to be scared. If he'd been almost anyone else, Snowdrake Sr. probably would have beaten them up.

Then... the only way to save Papyrus was to show Sans that he didn't have a choice.

Grillby sighed. "Right now, you have two options." Sans shot him a confused glare. "By coming closer to you, I've left the door I'm supposed to be guarding wide open. It's the door you entered my bar through. If you stood and ran right now, I wouldn't stop you. You could run out of this bar and into the woods and never see any of us again."

Sans stared.

"But your brother will probably die."

Sans's face crumpled.

"If you decide to hand your brother to me and stay here, there's a team of eight of us, including you. I'm sure with all of us put together, we could nurse Papyrus back to health in a few days, maybe a week. He's almost guaranteed a full recovery if he's in our hands."

Sans stared at Grillby for a long moment before uncurling from his ball. Papyrus was resting on his lap with his arms around his neck. Sans looked to him, to Grillby, and then back to Papyrus. "If... If you hurt him..."

"Sans, I wouldn't dream of hurting your brother." Grillby held his arms out. When Sans refused to move, Grillby whispered one last word. "Please."

A sob hitched in Sans's throat as he disentangled himself from his brother with painstaking carefulness and placed him in Grillby's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never posted a story here before, so if there's anything I could do better, don't hesitate to tell me! Also, my tumblr is icedragon19.tumblr.com if you wanna see an amalgamation of Undertale and anything I find funny or interesting!


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